"The Rumor Game," by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra

In high school rumors are known to quickly spread, The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra is a clear representation of the harm they can cause. The book’s setting is at Foxham Prep, a private school that is really big on popularity. As soon as the rumors begin to spread between all the students, friendships begin to break up. This represents the purpose of the book showing that one single rumor can turn into bigger problems. Dhonielle Clayton is a bestselling author who writes books directed towards teens who can relate to what she writes about. She helps run We Need Diverse Books, an organization that helps support diversity in stories. Sona Charaipotra, her co-author is a writer and a journalist who has written for Teen Vogue and New York Times. Both of them created a company focusing on writing diverse books for younger audiences. These books show the passion and love they have for writing.

The story follows these three girls, Bryn, Georgie, and Cora at Foxham Prep. Before all the problems from the rumors started, Bryn used to be popular. After a mistake she had made, her reputation went downhill after that and she acknowledged that she had to fix it one way or another. After summer break, Georgie comes back to the school and suddenly becomes popular. Cora is the cheer captain who is seen by others as a girl with a perfect life until rumors about her and her boyfriend with Georgie start spreading. As rumors continue, friendships break and these teens' lives get more stressful as time goes on. The conflict starts when gossip goes around the school. These rumors cause drama and make people turn against each other. As the book goes on, these rumors become unpredictable and more people just keep getting involved. The girls try to figure out the truth of what's going on and try to deal with the problems that these rumors have caused. At the end of the story, the characters learn that rumors hurt people in ways they couldn't imagine and can cause very serious problems. At the beginning of the book, Bryn is trying to become popular again, fixing what she had caused during the summer. Georgie is unsure and insecure about herself, and Cora seems to be confident. Characters in this book begin to show drastic changes. Bryn is trying to learn from each of her past mistakes while also trying to repair those friendships she had ruined. Georgie gains so much attention from people at her school, especially boys, but learns that the attention is not always good. Cora learns that being perfect isn't as easy as she thought it was. In the end, these girls learn the importance of honesty and friendship away from these rumors that are harmful.

I personally really liked The Rumor Game  because it's a realistic perspective of what teenagers go through now and shows so much relatability. The story shows how rumors and social media can affect people to a great extent. I also really liked reading the different perspectives of characters since it helped me understand everyone's emotions better. The drama and issues that happened between the characters makes the story more interesting for those who are reading it. The book teaches an important lesson about being cautious of what one says. I would recommend this book to teenagers who have lived and like drama similar to this. People who enjoy books about friendships and problems that happen socially would enjoy this book the most. This book can bring comfort and represent a good realistic story. The Rumor Game is a good book that represents how harmful rumors can be. This book shows the reality of what people in high school go through. This should make people notice that making rumors about someone is not right and will only cause problems for themselves and those around them.